P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has agreed with Max Verstappen’s assumption that a strategy error cost the side the chance
Lewis Hamilton started third in the race and was catching up to Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. However, Mercedes chose not to respond to Red Bull’s undercut strategy. Hamilton eventually followed a two-stop strategy and used fresh Medium tyres to pass Norris but fell short of Verstappen by 2.2 seconds. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted that their offset strategy contributed to their missed opportunity to beat Red Bull. He believed that the Mercedes car had the potential to win the race, but various factors, such as the two stops and losing time behind Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, hindered their performance. Both Wolff and Verstappen agreed that Mercedes could have won if they had implemented a better strategy. Wolff highlighted Hamilton’s extended first stint as the point where Mercedes lost too much ground to Verstappen. The team initially chose a one-stop strategy, but the performance of the tires did not meet their expectations.
Source: Motorsport Week
